Coldhearted: Liquescence Mix
by inalasahl
Summary: Jayne's in trouble, and River's the only one who can save him. Complete.


Notes: Thanks to skripka the beta, and kernelm for the Chinese. 

Original Story: Remixed from "Coldhearted" by kurukami for RemixRedux III.

* * *

Chinese: Sha gua (idiom: stupid people, lit. stupid melon)   
Everything else is well known, I think.

* * *

Jayne stepped out into the fading twilight with a growing sense of dissatisfaction. Not one offer to find someplace more quiet to "talk." He wasn't _that_ old. Even if he was leaving a bar before nightfall. Trudging back to where he'd left the mule, he tucked his hands into his. He turned the corner and immediately whipped his right hand out to nab his gun. 

Marco stood up from the mule with a grin, spitting into the dirt. "Cobb, I've been looking for ya." 

"Well, you found me," Jayne said, the gun in his hand unwavering from Marco's direction, even as he felt two others come up behind him. 

"Hoo," Marco said. "Still the same coldhearted son-of-a-bitch you always were." Jayne didn't reply. "Made a little mistake last time we saw each other," Marco continued. 

"What?" Jayne snorted. "Ditching your two-bit operation?" 

"No, leaving alive the person you betrayed."

* * *

She lay on the bed, checking the systems. In the next room over, Simon was shaving, staring into a hand-held mirror. He nicked his cheekbone and watched the blood well up. _I'd be there now, if she hadn't--if they'd left her alone._ Book and Inara sat across the kitchen table from each other. "Thank you, I've never had the opportunity to sample Silver Needle Zhenghe," Book said, pouring steaming liquid into a cracked cup. _I watched the captain shoot the man I swore to protect._

Inara smiled. "I prefer white tea myself, but it's too delicate to use with clients." She blew gently at her drink, barely rippling the surface. "To most people it tastes watered-down." _Well, we're all running from something, I suppose._

In the engine room, Kaylee ran her hand under the engine, speculatively. _You just wanna take a bite out of him all over, you know?_ Wash was in his bedroom, undressing with a mad grin. _Have you ever been with a warrior woman?_

The captain and Zoe stood in the cockpit looking out, troubled eyes watching as dark clouds raced toward them. "He said if he could find--" Mal reddened and cleared his throat. "He said he might stay overnight." 

"Looks like a bad storm, sir," Zoe murmured. "Blizzard, maybe." 

"He's got the mule," Mal said tiredly. "We're not going to get anywhere on foot tonight." He rubbed his face. "Gorramit, I told him not to go." 

Jayne wasn't on the ship. She could feel his light toward town, miles away from where Serenity waited. She sent a runner of thought shooting toward him, gripped with her mind and _missed_ skimming over and past him as he fell to the ground. The thought turned back, nearly missing him again, as his bright light suddenly went dim. River's eyes opened.

* * *

Jayne gasped as he fell to his knees. He ducked his hand into his boot, coming up with Binky. The knife landed deep into Marco's right arm, opening up a gusher. As soon as Jayne let the knife fly, he was raising his gun: Two pops later the other two were on the ground. Jayne stumbled to the mule and fumbled at the controls, praying he'd get gone before the law showed up. He zoomed away, steering with one hand and clutching the spreading dampness at his belly with the other.

* * *

"Wet," River shrieked. Simon cursed as he jumped, opening up more than a nick on his cheek. Dropping the razor, he burst out in the hallway calling after his sister as she ran down the passageway toward the cargo bay. 

She ran to Mal, "Wet, wet!" 

"Slow down," Mal said, looking behind her at Simon, a question in his eyes. Simon shrugged, wiping ineffectually at his cut cheek. "Jayne's hurt," she said. 

"How do you know that?" Mal replied cautiously. River gave him a look of barely-disguised disgust. "All right," he sighed. "Zoe?" He turned to his first mate, but she already had the locker open and was choosing a gun. "Eight miles between here and town, Zoe," Mal said. "And that's assuming he takes it straight. How the rut are we going to find him?" 

"We'll find him," Zoe said, steely-eyed. "But we'd best do it sooner than later."

* * *

Jayne fought to ignore the pain stabbing at his gut, and did his best to blink away the rapidly-falling snowflakes clinging to his lashes. He was shaking all over, coming close more than once to losing his grip on the mule's controls. He was so tired.

* * *

"Come on," Simon said after they were gone, wrapping his arms around River. "I can make you a cup of tea." 

"They won't find him," she mumbled, as they walked into the galley. 

"You don't know that," Simon replied, waving off Inara and Book's questions. 

"Yes, I do." She stuck her tongue out at Simon. "Going the wrong way." 

"They'll find him," Simon insisted, but his worried eyes strayed up to the mess's skylight.

* * *

He wasn't sure how far he was from Serenity when he fell, crawling until he found an agreeable tree to lean against. The mule continued on without him for a few revolutions, then came to a sputtering halt. Jayne closed his eyes and waited for death.

* * *

"He's cold," River insisted. "We have to go." 

"Mal and Zoe will find him," Inara tried to assuage her. 

River rolled her eyes and abruptly stood, examining the set expressions on the three faces before her. Sha gua. River acquiesced, faking a yawn. 

"You should rest," Simon said. River nodded, returning toward the passageway that led to her room. Out of sight, she continued onward until she reached the ladder leading to one of the hatches. 

Tumbling out into a world of white, she immediately found herself sliding along the top of the ship, until she landed with a thump on the ground. She stuffed her hand into her mouth to stifle her startled shriek, just in case, though she doubted anyone inside the ship could hear anything. The wind was already howling, throwing stinging snow and ice at her exposed skin. She clutched her arms and stepped forward into the wind.

* * *

He thought he heard laughter, and a piercing voice. The cold was seeping down into his bones. His arms and legs were numb from it. "Coldhearted son-of-a bitch." It was Stitch, maybe. Or Marco. Mal shouting, "You did it to me, Jayne."

* * *

She found him under a tree. The snow so thick in front of her face she couldn't see him with her eyes until she was bent low over him, her face mere inches from hers. His eyes were shut tight and his breathing shallow. She lay a gentle hand on him and he jerked, fumbling for the gun that he'd dropped long before crawling under the tree to die. She waited, counting the heartbeats until he could make his eyes focus, sanity swimming up slowly from wherever he'd gone. "Girl?" 

Ghosts clung to him; she clacked her tongue to drive them away. "Cold," he mumbled. She watched as he tried to stand and found he couldn't. His eyes fluttered, and he sank back into darkness.

* * *

Jayne awoke to bright lights, and a low murmuring. "He'll be fine. It was a near thing, though." He thought he remembered ... 

"'S not possible," he murmured. 

Simon turned, a hypodermic in his hand. "Rest, Jayne." 

The second time he awoke, the infirmary was mostly dark. There was just enough light for him to make out River sitting on the counter. "You couldn't have." She simply looked at him, all shining black eyes and wet clingy hair. "You wouldn't have," he croaked. She had, though. He knew it in his bones, with every instinct he'd ever been born with. 

"No more death," she said. The sheen in her eyes shimmered and fell, tears tracking down her face as she moved toward him. "No more." 

He stretched out a tentative hand, half sure she'd turn fierce any second, and wiped the tears away. "Wouldn't've been your fault. Brought it on myself like as not." 

She shook her head, holding out a reader. His eyes focused on the bulletin. The bounty on Jayne Cobb, last seen in the company of two fugitives on Ariel, had been considerably raised. "Well, no wonder Marco took it into his head to track me down" he said with a forced chuckle. "Always knew I'd be famous." 

"I know you know," he whispered. "That on Ariel--" His eyes slid from hers. 

She shrugged, as if betrayal was nothing more than a rainy day. "Space trash, don't belong." This time it was her turn to look away. "Always been that way, even before. Only Simon ever--" she broke off , her hands like claws digging into Jayne's shoulders. "If you ever hurt him again--" 

"I won't; I swear." Then he made a promise he'd never thought to make to anyone. "Not even if Mal asked me too. You saved my life, I guess." 

"No more death," River said. 

"But you got to take care of yourself, too. Let Simon be the big brother." She nodded solemnly, and he waggled a finger to try to turn the mood lighter. "No more carrying men twice your size through the snow." 

"If you promise not to get shot again," she giggled. 

He put the cup down and pulled his infirmary blanket up higher. He had more sleeping to do yet. "Guess I won't have much reason to be afraid of you after this," he muttered, ending on a yawn. 

"I can think of one more." Her eyes danced mischievously. "My birthday is next month." 

"What's that got to do with--" Quick as a wink, she'd leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, cutting off his question with the answer. 

"Rutting diyu," he bellowed, pushing her away. 

She ticked them off on her hand. "Wash is married. Simon's my brother--" 

"Mal," he suggested desperately. 

She smiled, and it was the creepiest thing Jayne had ever seen. "Like you better." 

"Tamade!" 

Her laughter trailed behind her as she skipped from the room. 

The End 


End file.
